The funeral of Josephine-Charlotte, the Brussels-born mother of Luxembourg's reigning monarch Grand Duke Henri, was held at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in the presence of royalty from 15 countries in Europe and beyond.

As her coffin draped in the royal coat of arms left the Grand Ducal Palace, borne aloft by military pallbearers, trumpeters played a salute, church bells tolled and a 21-gun salute boomed out.

Members of the public braved the cold to throw white rose petals as the cortege passed through the narrow streets leading to the cathedral. Hundreds followed the service on a giant television screen set up nearby.

The Roman Catholic service featured a short prayer read in English by Princess Maria-Annunciata of Liechtenstein, one of Josephine-Charlotte's grand-daughters, for the victims of the Asian tsunami.

"Let us pray to our Lady (the Virgin Mary) for all the victims of the terrible tsunami disaster which deeply moved our grandmother," the 19-year-old princess said.

Josephine-Charlotte died of lung cancer on Monday. Her younger brother, King Albert II of neighbouring Belgium, was among the 700 mourners attending the public service.

Also present were queens Sofia of Spain, Margrethe II of Denmark, Beatrix of the Netherlands, Sonja of Norway and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

The British royal family was represented by Prince Andrew, while Japan's Prince Akishino, Jordan's Prince El Hassan Bin and Prince Albert of Monaco also attended the service.

The grand duchess's body was cremated and the ashes interred in the family crypt at the cathedral, during a private service attended by close relatives, at the end of five days of national mourning in the wealthy but tiny country.

Archbishop Fernand Franck, who officiated at the funeral service, paid tribute to her "profound and noble humanity" and her "acute sense of her responsibilities".

Born on October 11, 1927 to Prince Leopold and Princess Astrid of Belgium, Josephine-Charlotte's childhood was marked by great sadness: she was only seven when her mother died in a car crash in Switzerland.

She remained in Belgium during World War II with her father and her two younger brothers, princes Baudouin and Albert. But they were deported to Germany on June 7, 1944, a day after the Allied landings in Normandy.

The Belgian royal family was freed on May 7, 1945, and initially set up home near Geneva, as the vast majority of Belgians did not want the king back.

The "royal question" was only resolved in 1951, when Leopold stood down to be succeeded on the throne by his eldest son Baudouin.

In Geneva the young Princess Josephine-Charlotte studied child psychology at the Swiss city's university before in 1953 marrying Prince Jean of Luxembourg, the heir to the throne, who became grand duke in 1964.

The couple had five children. Their eldest son, Henri, succeeded his father as grand duke in 2000.

An intensely reserved woman, Josephine-Charlotte was known for her charitable activities, serving from 1964 as president of the Luxembourg Red Cross. Her hobbies included the arts, gardening, hunting, fishing, skiing and water-sports.

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